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Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Improves Olfaction Sensitivity in Morbidly Obese Patients

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Abstract

Background

Olfactory abilities of the patients are known to be altered by eating and metabolic disorders, including obesity. There are only a number of studies investigating the effect of obesity on olfaction, and there is limited data on the changes in olfactory abilities of morbidly obese patients after surgical treatment. Here we investigated the changes in olfactory abilities of 54 morbidly obese patients (M/F, 22/32; age range 19–57 years; body mass index (BMI) range 30.5–63.0 kg/m2) after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Method

A laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy was performed by the same surgeon using five-port technique. Olfactory abilities were tested preoperatively and 1, 3, and 6 months after the surgery using a standardized Sniffin’ Sticks Extended Test kit.

Results

Analyses of variance indicated statistically significant improvement in T, D, and I scores of morbidly obese patients within time factors (preoperative vs. 1, 3, and 6 months; 1 vs. 3 and 6 months; and 3 vs. 6 months; p < 0.001 for all). There was a statistically significant improvement in overall TDI scores with an increase from 25 to 41 during the 6 months follow-up period (p < 0.001 for all).

Conclusions

Here, for the first time in literature, we were able to show the significant improvement in olfactory abilities of morbidly obese patients after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

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Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Additional informed consent was obtained from all individual participants for whom identifying information is included in this article.

Funding

This study was not funded.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ear Nose and Throat Clinic, Liv Hospital, Ulus, Istanbul, Turkey

    Deniz Hancı

  2. Ear Nose and Throat Clinic, Yunus Emre Hospital, Uskudar, Istanbul, Turkey

    Huseyin Altun

  3. General Surgery Clinic, Liv Hospital, Ulus, Istanbul, Turkey

    Hasan Altun, Burcin Batman & Kursat Rahmi Serin

  4. General Surgery Clinic, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Education and Research Hospital, Atasehir, Istanbul, Turkey

    Aziz Bora Karip

Authors
  1. Deniz Hancı
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  2. Huseyin Altun
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  3. Hasan Altun
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  4. Burcin Batman
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  6. Kursat Rahmi Serin
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Correspondence to Hasan Altun.

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Hancı, D., Altun, H., Altun, H. et al. Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy Improves Olfaction Sensitivity in Morbidly Obese Patients. OBES SURG 26, 558–562 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1784-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-015-1784-6

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